Very helpful and supportive throughout the process
Great service
All went as planned although cannot blame your company for airport delays or lack of anything to eat on the plane. DialAFlight’s instant telephone response with human being is always most appreciated.
All too easy and cheerful
The pick up from airport to hotel was late and pretty poor
Unfortunately the flight was cancelled on our return due to Etna erupting and spewing ash and debris all over the airport which had to be closed. But we were given vouchers after four hours and supplied with accommodation overnight until we could return the following morning to get our replacement flight.
Everything was brilliant and I want to thank Gino and his team for making it an unforgettable holiday. I have been working with you for a long time and never been disappointed
As usual couldn’t be more helpful.
Best service and prices. Our go-to guys.
The hotel was really excellent - great rooms and very friendly staff, very well situated to visit the major towns and little villages nearby. A car is essential. Worth noting that flying into Florence is not necessarily a good idea and Pisa may be a better choice depending on where people are staying
Very helpful and went the extra mile whenever we needed help. Thanks to Wayne especially
Thanks so much Stuart. All good. Always recommend DialAFlight to our friends and would always go to you first!
Always the best best service received from your team. Why can't other companies follow your example
For your info, each one of the 4 BA flights was late, all due to BA problems!
Quick to respond and help. Very good communication - shame it can’t be said of our carrier BA!
All connections and bookings went well
Ryan very helpful and especially appreciate the phone call wishing me a good trip
Brilliant idea and good advice to book the hotel at T5 Heathrow. A perfect hotel for us.
The hotels were not in very good locations, but I understand you were looking for cheaper accommodation for us, so that is probably why. Thanks it was a great holiday.
Once again Ethan was amazing in helping me to choose the right holiday. Amalfi coast is beautiful and it was perfect time to visit.
Fantastic service, gave us all the options available, great detailed info and cost breakdown. Very polite and extremely helpful service. Thank you for helping make our 20th wedding anniversary truly memorable.
Excellent as always. Thank you Helen and team.
Kylie, our organiser, was exemplary as usual.
All good including the weather
Excellent service and very friendly and professional team making sure customers get a well deserved service
Excellent holiday again, courteous, professional service.
Dave Probert always organises so well
Another easy, hassle free trip. The hotel recommendation was just perfect for our needs. Thanks Eric and the DialAFlight team.
I am always pleased with the wonderful service
The whole trip went well - very happy with your work and organising
Here's a game to play on the plane. You have one last holiday and it's for a month. It won't cost you a thing but you have to go somewhere you've been before. That honeymoon hotel in Sri Lanka might loom large, perhaps the beach resort in Jamaica would be perfect, or the heavenly spot in the Maldives could do the trick.
My wife and I play the game on the way home from Tuscany - and are hard-pressed to think beyond the place we've just left. We stayed at the Castello di Casole hotel, a ravishing hill-top converted castle within striking distance of Siena, San Gimignano and Florence. In other words, culture of the highest order on your doorstep, where going nowhere at all is also a tantalising option.
We're talking Tuscany Classico: lush undulating countryside, a patchwork of greens, ochres and violets broken up by thick hedges and narrow tracks lined with immaculate cypress trees.
Many of the tracks you can see from the castle's terrace - with its fabulous infinity swimming pool and huge terracotta pots laden with olive trees - lead to villas that are part of the hotel's 4,200-acre estate, now owned and run by Belmond.
An American firm acquired it in 2005 and set about a massive restoration.
There are 41 suites (plus a two-storey penthouse) in the main building and dotted about what amounts to a private hamlet, with its own church and crypt built by the Bargagli family in the 19th century. The spa is in the granary, with treatment rooms in the former cellars. At one time, the castle was owned by Italian director Luchino Visconti (Death In Venice). Perhaps he, like us, spent hours staring into the distance - front row seats in the Ritzy Naturale.
It's truly special at night, when the main courtyard becomes a village square, complete with fountain, stone benches and al fresco dining. Children play hide and seek while their parents pile plates with some of the best cooking in the region.
What you forget about Tuscany is that the Etruscans were here long before the Romans. Hence the exquisite hilltop towns that once were fortresses designed to repel outsiders and are now communities keen to welcome visitors armed with euros.
On our second night, we ask the concierge to book us dinner somewhere cheap and cheerful nearby. He chooses Osteria del Borgo in the tiny village of Mensano, which, as it happens, we could see from our room.
Slow-cooked wild boar is the speciality here, but it's the sort of restaurant where you let the waiter (in this case the brother of the chef) decide what you should eat. A triumph.
We visited the dramatic hilltop town of San Gimignano, with its skyline of medieval towers, including the stone Torre Grossa and the 12th century Duomo di San Gimignano with famous frescoes by Ghirlandaio. But be warned, the walled town is one of Tuscany's biggest draws and it can get extremely busy - it's well worth a visit but try to avoid peak times. The priority of those medieval town planners wasn't car parking spaces.
We enjoyed a venture to beautiful Arezzo, where on the first Sunday of the month, the town centre becomes one huge antiques market. We buy a heavy marble font that raises eyebrows as we check in for the flight home at Pisa airport.
We also make the pilgrimage to Siena, where, because it is a few weeks before the annual Palio (the bareback horse race around the plaza), medieval pageantry is brewing nicely, including a hostile-looking marching band that drums its way through the narrow streets carrying heavy flags.
Most of all, we love sleepy Casole d'Elsa, which you can also see from the hotel. It has a butcher and grocer - and manages a perfect balance between visitors and full-time residents.
What strikes us about Tuscany in peak season is how if you avoid the superstar towns, there's space for everyone and, with fierce planning laws governing development, it's remarkably unspoilt.
First published in the Daily Mail - March 2020
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